Jacob Banks - Grace

12/27/2015
Tunes For Loons
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Imagine the captivating voice of a 60s male soul singer. Not dissimilar to Bill Withers. Now imagine that voice mashed up with the production of James Blake. BAM. Welcome to your new favorite person, Jacob Banks. That description is mostly for shock value, but I don't think it's totally off. In "Grace," my fav track off Banks' debut Paradox***, he has combined the throwback soul of yesteryear with the sleekest production around. It's really a thing to marvel at. I mean, this guy reduced me to a teary mess with his cover of "Say Something," and that song is probably #2 on my hit list (after John Legend's 'All of Me," a song I would like to take out back and murder Old Yeller style. I have no explanation for why and I'm not sorry). With this much musical charisma, it is no shocker that he's British. 50 bucks that JB is nominated for a Mercury Prize within 5 years. Mark my words y'all.

***the release has 8 tracks on it. Is this an LP or an EP? I need the experts to weight in here. If u work at Pitchfork pls help me.